Morning journal and courier., 1887-06-07
L0NDON,s GREAT JENKINS.
A Sketch of Sir Alseron BorthWick
 Editor ofthe M ornins Post.

A Sketch of Sir AIseron BorthwIck,
 Editor ofthe Morning Post.
 From the New York World.l
 At the London Press club dinner the
 other night I saw Sir Algernon Borth-
 wick, the editor of the Morning Post, and
 mention of him comes in very properly
 in discussing social topics. The Morning
 Post is the fashionable organ of London
 society. It is a well-written, cleanly prin- ted paper. It prints the Reuter- telegrans
 and few specials from the continental
 cities. Its advertising patronage is very
 large. The feature of the Morning Post,
 however, is the printing of social news. It
 is the one paper which prints the court cir-
 cular every day in full, wherein the move ments of the queen and different members of l the royal family are recited with the hack phrases of the market reports in the Ameri- can newspapers. A ball or reception is not l considered fashionable unless it is reported | in the Post. I was told at this dinner by an l old London journalist that this kind of I fashionable intelligence was the source of a great revenue to the paper, and that its method of printing this kind of news was l unquestioned and accepted as a matter of course by the members of London society. l Every notice of the movement of people is paid for at so much line. Reports of parties and dinners are charged for at the same rates. If the Hon. John Smith wishes to cast gloom over society by the announce ment that he is about to leave London for a few days, to go to the country, or if he wishes to thrill London society with the an- nouncement that his wife will be at home on certain days, these bits of intelligence can be communicated to the public at the rate of l one guinea for paragraph of five lines. Another friend of mine told he later that the space rates of the Morning Post for soci- ety reports was about seventy-fve guineas a column. He found this out one day. A wealthy tradesman from Vienna, who came to Lendon to be married, was very anxious to have report of the marriage printed in the Morning Post. He came to this friend and asked him if he could arrange it. He
 replied that he thought so as he knew one of the sub-editors of the Post. He called upon him and asked him about it. Ger l tainly,'' said he. 'EIt is a mere matter of business. It is very easily arranged. How | much would your friend likel'' "A third of
 column will do him." ''That will cost twenty-five guineas." The amount was handed over and the next morning the Wien. na merchant was thrilled with pride and joy at the sugar coated paragraphs giving the ae- count of the wedding, with the names of the distinguished people present and the toilets of the ladies.
 Sir Algernon Borthwick is a member oi
 Parliament and the editor of paper whose power is almost distinctly social. It is said that the manuscript upon which all the copy of his office is prepared is pink-tinted, and that it is written with violet colored and perfumed ink by elegant young men who sit in the office late at night in evening dress and prepare with languid ease these guinea
 paragraphs which have made Sir Algernon g proud member of Parliament and a very
 wealthy business man. Sir Algernon Borth- wick, at the London Press club dinner, main tained throughout the banquet his character
 as high social magnate. He wore lilac kid gloves all through the dinner. It is said that ke is the only man in London society who al- ways wears lilac kid gloves I do not know whether he sleeps in them or not. He is the only nan who consistently wears them through every dinner to which he is invited.
 He has a small figure and round head
 slightly inclined to be bald. His hair is
 dark and partly gray: His complexion is 8
 clear olive. His eyes are dark blue, deeply
 set under bulging forehead. His nose is g
 slight pug. It is serious flaw in the aristo-
 cratic repose of his high society face. The
 lower part of his countenanee is hidden by 8
 mustache and full iron gray beard.